district attorney why so many people are in jail

Why are there so many people in local jails?

The people in local jails are not there because they are a threat to the rest of us. Nearly 75 percent of the hundreds of thousands of people in local jails are there for nonviolent offenses such as traffic, property, drug or public order offenses. Fifteen.

What do Democratic district attorneys do?

These left-leaning Democratic district attorneys have sought reforms to the bail system, curbed enforcement of lower-level marijuana offenses, increased the use of diversion programs over jail time and pledged to end mass incarceration.

What percentage of prisoners are in jail for drug charges?

The fact of the matter is in today’s state prisons, which hold about 90 percent of all of our prisoners, only 17 percent of the inmates are there primarily for drug charges. And about two-thirds are there for either property or violent crimes.

How hard is it to win a district attorney election?

The political question is interesting because generally the district attorney election is not very difficult to win. DAs tend to win elections pretty regularly. So, when Joe Hynes was defeated in the Democratic primary in Brooklyn, New York, in 2012, he was the first sitting Brooklyn DA to run for re-election and lose in more than a century.

Are District Attorneys powerful?

District Attorneys are the most powerful local elected officials in our justice system, and Los Angeles County is home to “the nation's largest local prosecutorial agency by far.”

Why is the prosecutor so powerful?

Abstract. Prosecutors are the most powerful officials in the American criminal justice system. The decisions they make, particularly the charging and plea-bargaining decisions, control the operation of the system and often predetermine the outcome of criminal cases.

Why are district attorneys considered to have the most important role in the criminal justice process?

District attorneys have significant decision-making power and the decisions they make have a big impact on the community. They can decide whether criminal charges are brought to court, which cases are dismissed or diverted from court, and — to some extent — the sanctions that people convicted of crimes will face.

Why are prosecutors more powerful than judges?

Because punishment for a crime is largely determined by the sentence that lawmakers have established in the criminal code, the prosecutor often has more power over how much punishment someone convicted of a crime receives than the judge who does the actual sentencing.

Who has the most power in a courtroom?

The Supreme Court is the most powerful court of law in the United States. It was authorized by Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution. It says, "the judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish."

How do prosecutors misuse their power?

Prosecutors can break the law, engaging in prosecutorial misconduct, in four ways: Offering evidence that they know to be false or “inadmissible” in court. Keeping exculpatory evidence hidden from the defense, or “suppressing Brady evidence” Encouraging witnesses to lie on the stand, or “suborning perjury”

Who is above the district attorney?

In practice, district attorneys, who prosecute the bulk of criminal cases in the United States, answer to no one. The state attorney general is the highest law enforcement officer in state government and often has the power to review complaints about unethical and illegal conduct on the part of district attorneys.

What do district attorneys do?

A district attorney is a public official who is appointed or elected to represent the state in criminal judicial proceedings in a particular judicial district or county; an appointed or elected officer who prosecutes cases in a particular judicial district.

What is the most popular reason that cases get dismissed?

Common Grounds to File a Motion to Dismiss Your Criminal CaseNo probable cause. ... Illegal search. ... Lack of evidence. ... Lost evidence. ... Missing witnesses. ... Failing to state Miranda Rights.

Who has more power in plea negotiations?

the prosecutorThese days, more than 95% of conviction in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains. “And again, the person who has the most say and power over a plea bargain—that person is the prosecutor,” Bazelon said.

Why do prosecutors sometimes choose not to prosecute criminal cases?

Prosecutors may decline to press charges because they think it unlikely that a conviction will result. No matter what the prosecutor's personal feelings about the case, the prosecutor needs legally admissible evidence sufficient to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Who is more powerful prosecutor or lawyer?

Goal. The prosecutor must charge the accused with a specific crime or crimes, then present evidence that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty. The defense attorney must defend their client against criminal charges. The client is innocent until proven guilty.

Who is the New Orleans District Attorney?

New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams speaking at a press conference. (Facebook)

How did Williams prevent people from going to jail?

Williams has also taken steps to prevent people from going to jail in the first place by directing his staff not to prosecute for possession of personal amounts of most drugs. One driver of mass incarceration in Louisiana is the “multiple-bill” statute, an “habitual offender” sentence enhancement.

Why is Emily Maw in jail?

Emily Maw, the Civil Rights Division chief under Williams, estimates that nearly 700 people are in prison from Orleans Parish because of excessive sentences imposed by prosecutors who used the multi-bill statute. In her first weeks on the job, Maw joined with a group of defense attorneys to motion for a “negotiated settlement” in court which ...

How long was Yutico Briley sentenced?

In March, prosecutors worked with Bazelon to secure the release of one of her clients, Yutico Briley, who was serving a 60-year sentence for an armed robbery he didn’t commit. Bazelon said the weighty sentence was handed down in a process that “probably lasted five minutes.

Why did Louisiana have a split jury?

In Louisiana, nonunanimous, or split, jury convictions were written into the state constitution in 1898 as a defense by white lawmakers eager to quell the influence of Black jurors. This law disadvantaged Black people, according to The New Orleans Advocate, by acting “as a capstone to trial system that becomes more titled against black defendants ...

What is the focal point of conviction integrity units?

This is a big departure from what has been the norm for decades. The traditional focal point of conviction integrity units has been innocence claims. But the post-conviction reviews that are springing up, in certain places thanks to legislative changes in state law, are taking a broader look at redressing excessive sentencing and other drivers of mass incarceration.

When did Louisiana end mandatory parole?

In 2012 and 2016, the Supreme Court ended mandatory juvenile life without parole sentences, and applied this ruling retroactively. In response, Louisiana made people sentenced while minors automatically eligible for parole unless DAs filed notices in court objecting to this.

Why do people go to jail?

Often overlooked in discussions about mass incarceration are the various “holds” that keep people behind bars for administrative reasons. A common example is when people on probation or parole are jailed for violating their supervision, either for a new crime or a “technical violation.” If a parole or probation officer suspects that someone has violated supervision conditions, they can file a “detainer” (or “hold”), rendering that person ineligible for release on bail. For people struggling to rebuild their lives after conviction or incarceration, returning to jail for a minor infraction can be profoundly destabilizing. The national data do not exist to say exactly how many people are in jail because of probation or parole violations or detainers, but initial evidence shows that these account for over one-third of some jail populations. This problem is not limited to local jails, either; in 2019, the Council of State Governments found that 1 in 4 people in state prisons are incarcerated as a result of supervision violations.

How many people are in prison for immigration?

Turning to the people who are locked up criminally and civilly for immigration-related reasons, we find that 11,100 people are in federal prisons for criminal convictions of immigration offenses, and 13,600 more are held pretrial by the U.S. Marshals.

What is recidivism in criminal justice?

The term “recidivism” suggests a relapse in behavior, a return to criminal offending. But what is a valid sign of criminal offending: self-reported behavior, arrest, conviction, or incarceration? Defining recidivism as rearrest casts the widest net and results in the highest rates, but arrest does not suggest conviction, nor actual guilt. More useful measures than rearrest include conviction for a new crime, re-incarceration, or a new sentence of imprisonment; the latter may be most relevant, since it measures offenses serious enough to warrant a prison sentence. Importantly, people convicted of violent offenses have the lowest recidivism rates by each of these measures. However, the recidivism rate for violent offenses is a whopping 48 percentage points higher when rearrest, rather than imprisonment, is used to define recidivism.

How much do incarcerated people make?

But prisons do rely on the labor of incarcerated people for food service, laundry and other operations, and they pay incarcerated workers unconscionably low wages: our 2017 study found that on average, incarcerated people earn between 86 cents and $3.45 per day for the most common prison jobs. In at least five states, those jobs pay nothing at all. Moreover, work in prison is compulsory, with little regulation or oversight, and incarcerated workers have few rights and protections. Forcing people to work for low or no pay and no benefits allows prisons to shift the costs of incarceration to incarcerated people — hiding the true cost of running prisons from most Americans.

What is the second myth about prisons?

The second myth: Private prisons are the corrupt heart of mass incarceration. In fact, less than 9% of all incarcerated people are held in private prisons; the vast majority are in publicly-owned prisons and jails. Footnote 6. 6.

What are the myths about mass incarceration?

Five myths about mass incarceration. The overcriminalization of drug use, the use of private prisons, and low-paid or unpaid prison labor are among the most contentious issues in criminal justice today because they inspire moral outrage.

How many drug arrests do police make in a year?

Police still make over 1 million drug possession arrests each year, Footnote 5. 5. many of which lead to prison sentences. Drug arrests continue to give residents of over-policed communities criminal records, hurting their employment prospects and increasing the likelihood of longer sentences for any future offenses.

Who wrote the report arguing for more incarceration?

Last week, Attorney General William Barr — who decades ago helped write a report arguing for more incarceration — told a Fraternal Order of Police conference in New Orleans that "the emergence in some of our large cities of district attorneys that style themselves as 'social justice' reformers, who spend their time undercutting the police, letting criminals off the hook and refusing to enforce the law," is "demoralizing to law enforcement and dangerous to public safety."

Who is the Suffolk County District Attorney?

Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins at a press conference in Boston on March 1, 2019. Craig F. Walker / The Boston Globe via Getty Images file. "Change never happens when people are comfortable," she told NBC News. "We're going to be thinking creatively about solutions.".

What are progressive reform minded prosecutors doing?

Progressive, reform-minded prosecutors have taken the reins in top local prosecutor roles across the country that have allowed them to begin to change the criminal justice system from the inside out. These left-leaning Democratic district attorneys have sought reforms to the bail system, curbed enforcement of lower-level marijuana offenses, ...

What did Gonzales say about the prosecutor movement?

Gonzales said the progressive prosecutor movement is gaining steam, adding, "You're going to see more reformers."

Is Larry the Police soft on crime?

Mike Neilon, a spokesman for the Philadelphia lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, told NBC News "the perception of Larry has been that he's been soft on crime and has created a culture or a perception or an appearance that he's soft on crime.".

Does Krasner have authority in Pennsylvania?

Some Pennsylvania lawmakers tried to wrest away some of Krasner's authority last month, passing a law allowing for the state attorney general to prosecute certain gun crimes in Philadelphia, after Krasner had substantially increased the number of gun cases sent to a diversionary program.

Who is the progressive billionaire who has dumped millions of dollars into district attorney races around the country?

Over the last few years, progressive billionaire George Soros has dumped millions of dollars into district attorney races around the country. Soros has used his considerable finances and political clout to challenge district attorneys that do not fit into his progressive ideological agenda. 2015, Scott Colom and Robert Shuler Smith, $400,000.

Why are alternative charges and sentencing of illegal immigrants important?

Alternative charges and sentencing of illegal immigrants to avoid reporting criminals to ICE. This creates two justice systems, one for citizens and one for illegal immigrants in which the illegal immigrants are given lesser punishments.

Does Soros dump money?

There is a noticeable pattern in the races. The Soros groups come in and dump large amounts of money in the final moments of the campaign. The link between the Soros funds and the candidate are only discovered after the election is held.

Did Denver release an illegal immigrant?

Recently in Denver, an illegal immigrant was released by local law enforcement despite an ICE detainer after being arrested for a hit and run that killed the other driver. The Mayor of Oakland acted as a gang lookout for hundreds of illegal immigrant criminals by warning them of an impending ICE raid.

How many local jails are there in the US?

There are more than 3000 local jails across the US, according to the Vera Institute, and together usually hold about 500,000 people awaiting trial and an additional 200,000 or so convicted on minor charges. Over the course of a year, these local jails process over 11.7 million people.

Why do people go to jail?

Many people in jail and prison because the U.S. has much tougher drug laws and much longer sentences for drug offenses than most other countries. Drug offenders receive an average sentence of seven months in France, twelve months in England and 23 months in the U.S. Twelve. The bail system penalizes poor people.

How many people in prison have mental illness?

Over 14 percent of the men and over 30 percent of the women entering jails and prisons were found to have serious mental illness in a study of over 1000 prisoners. A recent study in New York City’s Rikers Island jail found 4,000 prisoners, 40 percent of their inmates, were suffering from mental illness.

What is the difference between jail and prison?

Jails are local, usually for people recently arrested or awaiting trial. Prisons are state and federal and are for people who have already been convicted.

Why do poor people plead guilty?

Lots of poor people plead guilty. Lack of adequate public defense leads many people in prison to plead guilty. The American Bar Association reviewed the U.S. public defender system and concluded it lacked fundamental fairness and put poor people at constant risk of wrongful conviction.

How many people in prison need treatment?

Seventeen. Lots of people in jail need treatment. Nearly 70 percent of people prison meet the medical criteria for drug abuse or dependence yet only seven to 17 percent ever receive drug abuse treatment inside prison.

What is the first step in putting people in jail?

The first step in putting people in jail starts with interactions between police and people. From the very beginning, Black and poor people are targeted by the police. Police departments have engaged in campaigns of stopping and frisking people who are walking, mostly poor people and people of color, without cause for decades.

Five Myths About Mass Incarceration

See more on prisonpolicy.org

The High Costs of Low-Level Offenses

Offense Categories Might Not Mean What You Think

Acknowledgments

About The Authors

About The Prison Policy Initiative